Agricultural harvesters, such as agricultural combines, are designed to travel through agricultural fields harvesting crops. Agricultural combines receive crop severed from the ground and convey it to threshing, separating and cleaning devices within the agricultural combine.
In a typical arrangement, the agricultural harvesting head severs the crop from the ground and conveys it to the central region of the harvesting head. It is then conveyed rearward into a central and forwardly opening aperture in the front of the agricultural combine proper.
The cut crop material is carried from the agricultural harvesting head to the agricultural combine through a feederhouse. The feederhouse includes an internal conveyor that draws the material rearward and upward from the harvesting head (close to the ground) to an aperture on the front of the combine which is higher.
Problems associated with these conveyors include wear on the conveyors, particularly those using endless chain belts, the inability to drive the conveyors at high speeds, and the difficulty of controlling the lateral position of the belts, which tend to translate laterally from side to side and fouling by plant material.
It is an object of this invention to reduce or solve these problems using the cogged drive arrangement described herein.